Yaounde: Researchers, inventors exhibiting innovations, exchanging knowledge.

The excellence week is an initiative of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation.

The exhibitions, alongside plenary sessions and conferences, are holding at the esplanade of the Yaounde City Council, with experts in sectors such as renewable energy, health, agriculture, ICT, among others showcasing their latest innovations, building partnerships.

Discussions during the conferences are focused on key themes, including agriculture research in the face of climate change; implication for food security, scientific research and industrialisation, public-private partnership for industrialisation, challenges, prospects and opportunities of local materials sector among others.

Speaking at the opening of the excellence week, the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Dr Madeleine Tchuinte spoke of government’s determination to push for advancement of research and the valorisation of research results.

“JERSIC 2025 mark a new step towards the materialisation of our common dream; where laboratories and businesses work in synergy, where discoveries are transformed into jobs, where products Made in Cameroon fill our markets and are proudly exported, finally a Cameroon where scientific research becomes the driving force of an irreversible structural transformation of the economy,” Dr Madeleine Tchuinte.

Addressing researchers on the occasion, the minister urged them to continue to dare, to create, to publish results, but above all, to think about the practical implementation of their discoveries.

“The government will be at your side to support the development of your research, to ensure intellectual property, and to facilitate the incubation of your projects,” she promised. Best research works and innovations presented during JERSIC 2025 will receive prizes.

Minister Madeleine Tchuinte equally made a passionate call to industrialists and entrepreneurs to tap into the pool of local innovation, adding that the country’s universities and institutes contain solutions just waiting to be adopted by the manufacturing sector.

“Whether it’s an improved fertilizer formula, a preservation process, management software, an improved traditional medicine, or a prototype, invest in these local solutions,” she mentioned.

The government official noted that since the holding of JERSIC 2023, Cameroon intensified its strong scientific cooperation diplomacy with the stated goal of making Cameroon the hub of research and innovation in Central Africa.

“These initiatives cover a variety of fields and are already resulting in joint research programs, expert exchanges, and the hosting of world-class pilot projects on our soil. This increases Cameroon's scientific influence, as does our access to external technological and financial resources,” the minister declared.

She also applauded the country’s partnerships with India, China, Germany, the United States, Belgium, and Morocco, through which numerous students and researchers benefit each year from exchange programs, laboratory equipment, and even joint research units established in Cameroon.

On the invitation of Minister Tchuinte, researcher from five countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, CEMAC, including Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and the Central African Republic at taking part in the Yaounde event.

A workshop on Structuring a Sub-regional Research and Innovation Hub, with participation of countries of the CEMAC zone, will mark the end of the Excellence Week for Scientific Research and Innovation today

It should be noted JERSIC, a biennial event, which first held in 2007, aims to give greater visibility to the results of the work and innovations of researchers first took place in 2007.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3506 of Thursday July 17, 2025